AFTER a great deal of deliberation by an esteemed panel of judges the winners of the national art competition, Create! Art For Autism have been announced.

All finalists were invited to attend an Awards Ceremony at Beechwood College in Sully, who are the originators of Create!, where their artwork and creativity were celebrated.

Create! Art For Autism is now in its fourth great year and received over 1000 superb entries from young people aged between 11 and 25 with an Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC).

The high standard of artwork meant that there were two highly commended and one winner in each category - 2D, 3D, Digital Photography, Digital Animation, and Poetry. And of course the winner of the People’s Choice Award, voted for by the public through the Create website. This category alone received over 5,000 votes.

The winners of each category were awarded a Kindle Fire HD and their school or organization received a Create! artbox, full of supplies to encourage more students creativity and participation in art orientated activities.

The list of winners is:

Poetry - Lewis Murray, Oliver Tatum and Jonathan Andrews highly commended

2D - Angus Lacey, Daniel Cooper and Solomon Taiwo highly commended

3D - Nathan Jones, Jay Rogers and Cameron Carr highly commended

Digital Photography - Michael Willcox, Alfie Armstrong and Michael Hallett highly commended

Digital Animation - Danny Williams, Bridget Kay and Ian Bruin highly commended.

And the winner of the People’s Choice Award is Jonathan Andrews with his poem ‘Creativity’.

The awards day was a great success with over 150 guests in attendance. Create! judge and singer/songwriter Aaron Yorke entertained the audience with an acoustic performance of the theme song he has written for Create!.

The awards for each category were presented by Aaron and his fellow judges - actress and author, Jane Asher, who also is President of the National Autistic Society; artist and lecturer at the University of South Wales Neil Burridge; Darren Jackson, Director of Education at Beechwood College in South Wales; educationalist and art examiner for WJEC Steve Knapik; arts editor of Bonhams Magazine Lucinda Bredin; Anna Kennedy, OBE, founder of ‘Autism’s Got Talent’; and Michael Shaw of the Times Educational Supplement.

All the finalists artworks were on display at the event and Darren Jackson noted the importance of Create! Art For Autism.

Mr Jackson said: "This campaign seeks to challenge the conventional barriers as to what is traditionally considered to be ‘art’, and instead raises the profile of the creative talents of those who through their autism are able to remain authentic in their thinking and vibrant in their responses."

If you would like to get further information about Create! Art For Autism visit www.createartforautism.com or you can write to info@createartforautism.com

If you would like to view this year’s finalists and winners go to www.createartforautism.com/peoples-choice-award-2014